Cigarettes, cigars, and pipes are popular smoking articles that employ tobacco in various forms. Such smoking articles are used by heating or burning tobacco, and aerosol (e.g., smoke) may be inhaled by the smoker. Tobacco may also be enjoyed in a so-called “smokeless” form. Particularly popular smokeless tobacco products are employed by inserting some form of processed tobacco or tobacco-containing formulation into the mouth of the user. Various types of tobaccos are set forth in U.S. Pat. No. 7,025,066 to Lawson et al.; U.S. Pat. No. 7,798,153 to Lawrence, Jr.; and U.S. Patent Appl. Pub. Nos. 2008/0245377 to Marshall et al. and 2011/0259353 to Coleman III et al.; each of which is incorporated herein by reference. Various types of representative tobacco products and technologies associated therewith are documented and described in the background art set forth in U.S. Pat. Pub. Nos. 2011/0220130 to Mua et al. and 2011/0259353 to Coleman III et al.; each of which is incorporated herein by reference.
For the preparation of smokable and smokeless tobacco products, it is typical for harvested plants of the Nicotiana species to be subjected to a curing process. Descriptions of various types of curing processes for various types of tobaccos are set forth in Tobacco Production, Chemistry and Technology, Davis et al. (Eds.) (1999). Exemplary techniques and conditions for curing flue-cured tobacco are set forth in Peele et al., Rec. Adv. Job. Sci., 21, 81-123 (1995); Nestor et al., Beitrage Tabakforsch. Int., 20, 467-475 (2003) and U.S. Pat. No. 7,404,406 to Peele, which are incorporated herein by reference. Additionally, representative techniques and conditions for air curing tobacco are set forth in Roton et al., Beitrage Tabakforsch. Int., 21, 305-320 (2005) and Staaf et al., Beitrage Tabakforsch. Int., 21, 321-330 (2005), which are incorporated herein by reference. Furthermore, certain types of tobaccos can be subjected to alternative types of curing processes, such as those known as fire curing or sun curing. See, also, for example, certain other types of curing processes and modified curing processes of the type set forth in U.S. Pat. No. 7,293,564 to Perfetti et al.; U.S. Pat. No. 7,650,892 to Groves et al. and U.S. Pat. No. 8,151,804 to Williams, which are incorporated herein by reference. Preferably, harvested tobaccos that are cured are then aged.
During curing processes, tobaccos experience significant weight loss. That is, a significant amount of certain components naturally present in a tobacco when that tobacco is harvested are removed from that tobacco. For example, during curing, a significant amount of the moisture naturally present in a tobacco is removed from that tobacco and lost to the environment.
It would be desirable to provide a manner or method for collecting components naturally present in tobacco, and for using those components in the manufacture of tobacco products. In particular, it would be desirable to provide cured tobacco, and in addition, to collect and isolate many of the tobacco-derived components that are normally lost during tobacco curing operations. As such, it would be desirable to provide systems and methods for capturing and isolating natural tobacco components that normally are lost during tobacco curing processing steps (e.g., so that those components that are natural to tobacco can be reincorporated into or otherwise be recombined with tobacco materials that are processed during the manufacture of tobacco products). In addition, it would be desirable to reincorporate naturally occurring tobacco components, such as those that are removed from harvested tobacco during curing processes, into tobacco materials during tobacco processing operations associated with the preparation of tobacco products, rather than incorporating exogenous ingredients and processing aids into those tobacco materials.